The following is a list of the largest airlines in Europe by total scheduled and chartered passengers, in millions. The list includes companies classified as European by the IATA. The order of the chart and its completion goes only up to the year 2023.
Country | Airline/holding | '23 | '22 | '21 | '20 | '19 | '18 | '17 | '16 | '15 | '14 | '13 | '12 | '11 | '10 | '09 | '08 | '07 | '06 | Fleet | Destinations | Sources | Alliance | Association |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ireland Malta Poland United Kingdom | Ryanair [lower-alpha 1] | 181.74 | 160.4 | 72.4 | 52.01 | 152.4 | 139.2 | 128.77 | 116.8 | 101.4 | 86.4 | 81.40 | 79.61 | 76.4 | 72.7 | 65.3 | 57.7 | 49.0 | 40.5 | 430 | 186 | A4E | ||
Germany Austria Belgium Switzerland | Lufthansa Group [lower-alpha 2] | 122.5 | 101.77 | 46.9 | 36.35 | 145.2 | 142.3 | 130.04 | 117.4 | 115.2 | 112.5 | 110.4 | 108.9 | 112.0 | 95.1 | 81.2 | 76.4 | 68.8 | 59.1 | 728 | 321 | Star Alliance | A4E IATA | |
United Kingdom Ireland Spain | International Airlines Group [lower-alpha 3] | 115.6 | 94.73 | 38.86 | 31.3 | 118.3 | 112.92 | 104.83 | 100.7 | 94.9 | 77.3 | 67.22 | 54.6 | 51.7 | 50.6 | 53.3 | 59.8 | 61.7 | 63.2 | 520 | 248 | oneworld | A4E ERA IATA | |
France Netherlands | Air France-KLM [lower-alpha 4] | 93.6 | 83.32 | 44.67 | 34.1 | 104.2 | 101.45 | 98.72 | 93.4 | 89.8 | 87.4 | 78.44 | 77.45 | 75.8 | 70.8 | 71.4 | 73.8 | 74.8 | 73.5 | 574 | 231 | | SkyTeam | A4E ERA IATA |
Turkey | Turkish Airlines [lower-alpha 5] | 83.4 | 71.82 | 44.8 | 27.95 | 74.28 | 75.16 | 68.61 | 62.8 | 61.2 | 54.8 | 48.3 | 39.0 | 32.6 | 29.1 | 25.1 | 22.6 | 19.6 | 16.9 | 400 | 337 | | Star Alliance | AIRE IATA |
United Kingdom Austria Switzerland | EasyJet [lower-alpha 6] | 82.8 | 69.7 | 20.4 | 16.09 | 103.3 | 88.5 | 81.63 | 74.5 | 69.9 | 65.3 | 61.33 | 59.21 | 55.5 | 49.7 | 46.1 | 44.6 | 38.2 | 33.0 | 300 | 136 | | A4E | |
Hungary United Kingdom Malta United Arab Emirates | Wizz Air [lower-alpha 7] | 60.3 | 45.6 | 21.7 | 16.67 | 39.8 | 33.81 | 28.27 | 22.78 | 19.2 | 15.8 | 13.5 | 12.0 | 11.2 | 9.6 | 7.8 | 5.8 | 4.2 | 3.0 | 168 | 144 | |||
Russia | Aeroflot Group [lower-alpha 8] | 47.3 | 40.7 | 45.81 | 30.16 | 60.7 | 55.7 | 50.13 | 43.4 | 39.4 | 34.7 | 31.4 | 27.5 | 16.4 | 14.1 | 11.1 | 11.6 | 10.2 | 8.7 | 336 | 189 | | IATA | |
Turkey | Pegasus Airlines | 31.93 | 26.94 | 20.16 | 14.71 | 30.76 | 29.97 | 27.82 | 24.14 | 22.3 | 19.7 | 16.8 | 13.6 | 11.3 | 8.6 | 5.9 | 4.4 | - | 3.1 | 94 | 109 | | IATA | |
Sweden Norway Denmark Ireland | SAS Group [lower-alpha 9] | 21.1 | 17.87 | 10.19 | 8.81 | 29.8 | 30.0 | 28.37 | 29.4 | 27.1 | 27.3 | 25.56 | 25.32 | 24.7 | 23.1 | 22.8 | 27.0 | 27.2 | 26.9 | 134 | 124 | | SkyTeam | ERA IATA |
Norway Sweden | Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA [lower-alpha 10] | 20.6 | 17.84 | 6.19 | 6.87 | 36.20 | 37.34 | 33.15 | 29.3 | 25.8 | 24.0 | 20.71 | 17.69 | 15.7 | 13.0 | 10.8 | 9.1 | 6.9 | 5.1 | 64 | 130 | | A4E | |
Germany Belgium Denmark Finland Ireland Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom | TUI Group [lower-alpha 11] | 16.7 | 2.02 | 2.02 | 26.0 | 33.7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 133 | - | | A4E IATA | |||||||
United Kingdom | Jet2.com | 16.57 | 15.53 | 3.17 | 2.85 | 14.39 | 12.09 | 9.64 | 6.67 | 5.85 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 4.78 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 90 | 50 | | A4E | |
Russia | S7 Airlines [lower-alpha 12] | 15.9 | 16.03 | 17.83 | 12.35 | 17.9 | 15.96 | 14.25 | 13.15 | 10.6 | 10.1 | 9.3 | 8.3 | 5.1 | 4.8 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 4.9 | 100 | 121 | IATA | ||
Portugal | TAP Air Portugal [lower-alpha 13] | 15.9 | 13.76 | 5.83 | 4.66 | 17.05 | 15.89 | 14.27 | 11.72 | 11.3 | 11.4 | 10.7 | 10.2 | 9.8 | 9.1 | 8.4 | 8.7 | 7.9 | 6.9 | 110 | 88 | Star Alliance | A4E ERA IATA | |
Greece | Aegean Airlines [lower-alpha 14] | 15.46 | 12.5 | 7.19 | 5.17 | 14.99 | 13.97 | 13.22 | 12.46 | 11.6 | 10.2 | 8.8 | 8.9 | 9.9 | 10.1 | 10.2 | 11.3 | 11.1 | 10.1 | 67 | 153 | Star Alliance | A4E IATA | |
Italy | ITA Airways | 15 | 10.1 | 1.32 | — | 95 | 70 | SkyTeam | IATA | |||||||||||||||
Turkey | SunExpress | 12.6 | 10.7 | 68 | 92 | IATA | ||||||||||||||||||
Spain | Air Europa | 11.74 | 10.03 | 5.04 | 4.26 | 13.13 | 11.84 | 10.6 | 10.6 | 10.2 | 8.1 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 8.7 | 8.9 | 9.0 | 9.7 | 9.9 | 8.1 | 59 | 44 | | SkyTeam | IATA |
Finland | Finnair | 10.9 | 9.10 | 2.85 | 3.48 | 14.65 | 13.28 | 11.90 | 10.87 | 10.2 | 9.6 | 9.27 | 8.77 | 8.0 | 7.1 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 8.8 | 73 | 103 | oneworld | A4E IATA | |
Spain | Volotea | 10.4 | 9.4 | 6.0 | 3.8 | 7.6 | 6.57 | 4.82 | 4.3 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 1.4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 23 | 60 | A4E IATA | |||
Poland | LOT Polish Airlines [lower-alpha 15] | 10.03 | 9.3 | 4.2 | 3.59 | 11.79 | 10.61 | 6.89 | 5.58 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 5.8 | 5.5 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 3.7 | - | 91 | 120 | | Star Alliance | AIRE IATA |
Russia | Ural Airlines | 9.41 | 8.49 | 9.20 | 5.60 | 9.62 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 6.47 | 5.4 | 5.1 | 4.4 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 47 | 66 | | IATA | |
Kazakhstan | Air Astana [lower-alpha 16] | 8.1 | 7.4 | 6.62 | 3.70 | 5.12 | 4.32 | 4.19 | 3.75 | 3.86 | 3.77 | 3.68 | 3.24 | 3.06 | 2.57 | 2.20 | 2.30 | 2.13 | 1.47 | 34 | 69 | IATA | ||
Germany | Condor | 7.0 | IATA | |||||||||||||||||||||
Russia | UTair Aviation | 6.06 | 5.54 | 7.12 | 4.90 | 8.09 | 7.65 | 7.3 | 6.65 | 8.8 | 11.2 | 10.4 | 7.8 | 5.8 | 5.2 | 3.9 | 3.23 | 2.93 | 2.42 | 66 | 117 | IATA | ||
Czech Republic Hungary Poland Slovakia | Smartwings [lower-alpha 17] | 5.2 | 2.53 | 1.8 | 9.6 | 8.8 | 8.17 | 7.3 | 6.57 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 57 | ? | | SkyTeam | IATA | ||
United Kingdom | Virgin Atlantic | 5.3 | 4.4 | 1.10 | 1.19 | 5.87 | 5.4 | 5.20 | 5.20 | 5.94 | 6.2 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.1 | 4.6 | 40 | 37 | SkyTeam | IATA | |
Uzbekistan | Uzbekistan Airways | 5.02 | 4.23 | 2.01 | 0.93 | 3.80 | 3.17 | 2.70 | 2.47 | 2.57 | 2.63 | 2.68 | 2.65 | 2.32 | 2.16 | 1.89 | 2.07 | 1.99 | 1.71 | IATA | ||||
Spain | Binter Canarias [lower-alpha 18] | 5.00 | 4.43 | 3.14 | 2.27 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 2.65 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.63 | 2.9 | 3.02 | 3.0 | IATA | ||||
Latvia | AirBaltic | 4.54 | 3.44 | 1.6 | 1.36 | 5.05 | 4.14 | 3.52 | 2.89 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 2.95 | 3.08 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 2.8 | - | 2.0 | 1.4 | 32 | 60 | A4E IATA | ||
Russia | Nordwind Airlines | 4.3 | 5.93 | 2.94 | 5.54 | 4.92 | 3.55 | 1.79 | 2.67 | 4.47 | 3.66 | 2.17 | 1.72 | 1.19 | - | - | - | - | 26 | 97 | IATA | |||
Iceland | Icelandair Group [lower-alpha 19] | 4.3 | 3.66 | 1.46 | 0.89 | 4.41 | 4.14 | 4.05 | 3.67 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 47 | 36 | A4E IATA | ||
Greece | Sky Express | 4.3 | 3.30 | 1.72 | 1.20 | 1.00 | 0.50 | 0.17 | 0.07 | — | 17 | 43 | | ERA | ||||||||||
Serbia | Air Serbia | 4.19 | 2.75 | 1.59 | 0.87 | 2.81 | 2.48 | 2.61 | 2.62 | 2.55 | 2.3 | - | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 34 | 81 | ERA IATA | ||
Russia | Smartavia | 3.80 | 3.24 | 3.62 | 1.64 | 2.03 | 1.19 | 1.09 | 0.96 | 0.73 | 0.76 | 0.76 | 0.81 | 1.47 | 1.4 | - | - | - | - | 15 | 67 | IATA | ||
Norway | Widerøe | 3.3 | 3.28 | 2.45 | 1.77 | 3.00 | ERA IATA | |||||||||||||||||
Poland | Enter Air | 3.1 | 2.2 | 1.72 | 1.12 | 1.17 | 1.11 | 1.17 | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | — | 19 | 74 | |||||||
Azerbaijan | Azerbaijan Airlines | 2.9 | 2.25 | 0.87 | 0.57 | 2.60 | 1.89 | 2.29 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 32 | 57 | IATA | |||||||||||
Russia | Red Wings Airlines | 2.72 | 2.21 | 3.00 | 1.54 | 3.07 | 2.62 | 1.62 | 0.92 | 1.04 | 0.92 | 0.35 | 0.82 | 0.78 | 0.88 | - | - | - | - | 18 | 20 | |||
Luxembourg | Luxair [lower-alpha 20] | 2.5 | 2.05 | 1.08 | 0.66 | 2.15 | 2.13 | 1.93 | 1.84 | 1.81 | 1.68 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 17 | 59 | A4E ERA IATA | |||
Portugal | SATA Group [lower-alpha 21] | 2.4 | 1.92 | 1.28 | 0.67 | 1.71 | 0.89 | 0.99 | 0.86 | ERA IATA | ||||||||||||||
Romania | TAROM | 2.3 | 1.99 | 1.5 | 0.90 | 3.3 | 2.80 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 25 | 50 | SkyTeam | IATA | |
Russia | Azimuth | 2.3 | 1.9 | 2.09 | 1.22 | 1.25 | 0.67 | 0.07 | — | 11 | 31 | |||||||||||||
Russia | Azur Air | 2.1 | 3.73 | 1.93 | 5.79 | 4.24 | 3.75 | 2.34 | 2.35 | 0.21 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 27 | |||||
Belarus | Belavia | 1.6 | 4.00 | 3.39 | 3.0 | 2.49 | 2.09 | 1.97 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 29 | 48 | | IATA | ||||||||
Croatia | Croatia Airlines | 1.73 | 1.45 | 0.79 | 0.62 | 2.18 | 2.17 | 2.13 | 1.94 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 13 | 40 | Star Alliance | ERA IATA | ||
Moldova Romania | HiSky | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.1 | — | |||||||||||||||||||
Malta | Air Malta | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.73 | 1.74 | 1.76 | 1.66 | 1.68 | 1.68 | 1.64 | 1.74 | 1.63 | 1.61 | 8 | 37 | ERA IATA | ||||||||
Ukraine Malta | SkyUp [lower-alpha 22] | 1.55 | 1.08 | 2.57 | 1.25 | 1.71 | 0.44 | — | 14 | 64 | | |||||||||||||
Iceland | PLAY | 1.52 | 0.79 | 0.10 | — | 10 | 41 | |||||||||||||||||
Russia | Aurora | 1.35 | 1.16 | 1.07 | Part of Aeroflot Group | — | ||||||||||||||||||
Russia | NordStar | 1.26 | 1.08 | 1.16 | 0.88 | 1.28 | 1.42 | 1.4 | 1.29 | 1.13 | 1.1 | 1.24 | 1.16 | 0.77 | 0.54 | - | — | 15 | 50 | | IATA | |||
United Kingdom | Loganair | 1.23 | 1.29 | 0.73 | 0.35 | 0.95 | 0.76 | 0.77 | 0.75 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 34 | 44 | ERA | ||
Russia | IrAero | 1.14 | 0.98 | 0.93 | 0.95 | |||||||||||||||||||
Russia | Ikar | 1.1 | 1.72 | 0.76 | 2.16 | 2.02 | 1.38 | 0.99 | 1.08 | 1.24 | 0.28 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 29 | ||||
Russia | Yamal Airlines | 1.26 | 0.70 | 1.75 | 1.97 | 1.79 | 1.45 | 1.43 | 1.45 | 1.3 | 0.91 | 0.57 | 0.5 | 36 | 38 | |||||||||
Russia | I-Fly | 1.13 | 0.75 | 0.4 | 0.61 | 0.97 | 1.05 | 0.63 | 0.41 | 0.38 | - | - | - | - | 10 | 30 | ||||||||
Norway | Norse Atlantic Airways | 0.98 | 0.30 | — | 12 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||
Bulgaria | Bulgaria Air | 0.73 | 0.63 | 0.57 | 0.51 | 1.40 | 1.27 | 1.24 | 1.25 | 1.27 | 1.40 | 1.20 | 1.12 | 10 | 26 | IATA | ||||||||
Ukraine | Windrose | 1.44 | 1.30 | 12 | 19 | |||||||||||||||||||
Ukraine | Ukraine International Airlines | - | - | 2.79 | 1.73 | 7.97 | 8.08 | 6.93 | 6.0 | 4.8 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 42 | 80 | | IATA |
Marrakesh Menara Airport is an international airport serving Marrakesh, the capital city of the Marrakesh-Safi region in Morocco. It is an international facility that receives several European flights as well as flights from Casablanca, some of the Arab world nations and from 2024, flights from North America. The airport served over 6.3 million passengers in 2019.
Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza, often referred to as the Rinas International Airport, is one of the two main international airports of the Republic of Albania. It serves the city of Tirana, its metropolitan area, and surrounding region in the county of Tirana. The airport is named in honor of the Albanian Roman Catholic nun and missionary, Mother Teresa (1910–1997). It is located 6 nautical miles northwest of Tirana, in the municipality of Krujë, Durrës County.
Malta International Airport is the only airport in Malta, and it serves the whole of the Maltese Islands. It is located on the island of Malta, southwest of the Maltese capital, Valletta, in the town of Luqa, and occupies the location of the former RAF Luqa. The airport serves as the main hub for KM Malta Airlines and Medavia besides being an operating base for Ryanair and its subsidiary Malta Air. It is also home to the Area Control Center and hosts the annual Malta Airshow. The airport is operated by Malta International Airport plc.
Gran Canaria Airport is a passenger and freight airport on the island of Gran Canaria. It is an important airport within the Spanish air transport network, as it holds the sixth position in terms of passengers, and fifth in terms of operations and cargo transported. It also ranks first of the Canary Islands in all three categories, although the island of Tenerife has higher passenger numbers overall if statistics from the two airports located on the island are combined. The facility covers 553 hectares of land and contains two 3,100m runways.
Catania–Fontanarossa Airport, also known as Vincenzo Bellini Airport, is an international airport 2.3 NM southwest of Catania, the second largest city on the Italian island of Sicily. It is named after the opera composer Vincenzo Bellini, who was born in Catania.
Tenerife South Airport, also known as Tenerife South–Reina Sofía Airport, is the larger of the two international airports located on the island of Tenerife and the second busiest in the Canary Islands.
Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport or simply Porto Airport is an international airport near Porto (Oporto), Portugal. It is located 11 km (6.8 mi) northwest of the Clérigos Tower. Its location is split between the municipalities of Maia, Matosinhos and Vila do Conde. The airport is run by ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal and is currently the second-busiest in the country, based on aircraft operations; and the second-busiest in passengers, based on Aeroportos de Portugal traffic statistics, after Lisbon Airport and before Faro Airport. The airport is a base for easyJet, Ryanair, TAP Air Portugal and its subsidiary TAP Express.
Valencia Airport, also known as Manises Airport, is the tenth-busiest Spanish airport in terms of passengers and second in the Valencian Community after Alicante. It is situated 8 km (5.0 mi) west of the city of Valencia, in Manises. The airport has flight connections to about 20 European countries and 8.53 million passengers passed through the airport in 2019.
Salzburg Airport, branded as Salzburg Airport W. A. Mozart, is Austria's second largest airport. It serves Salzburg, the fourth-largest Austrian city, and is a gateway to Austria's numerous ski areas. The airport is located 1.7 NM west-south-west of the Salzburg City centre and 2 km (1.2 mi) from the Austrian-German border. It is jointly owned by Salzburg Municipality (25%) and Salzburg State (75%). The airport is named after the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Ibiza Airport is the international airport serving the Balearic Islands of Ibiza and Formentera in Spain located 7 km (4.3 mi) southwest of Ibiza Town. In 2020, the airport handled 2.1 million passengers, making it the thirteenth busiest airport in the country. As the island is a major European holiday destination, it features both year-round domestic services and several dozen seasonal routes to cities across Europe. It is also used as a seasonal base for Vueling.
Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport is an international airport of Bordeaux, in southwestern France. It is situated in the commune of Mérignac, 12 km (7.5 mi) west of Bordeaux, within the département of the Gironde. It mainly features flights to metropolitan and leisure destinations in Europe, Northern Africa, and Canada, and serves as a base for easyJet and Volotea.
Aviapartner, whose origins date back to 1949 under the name of Herfurth Air Services to become 'Belgavia' in the late 1960s, is a Belgian company that provides ground handling services at 72 airports in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands and recently in South-Africa. Among the airports served are Amsterdam, Brussels, Milan, Düsseldorf, Rome, Nice, Toulouse and Málaga.
Santorini International Airport is an airport in Santorini, Greece located north of the village of Kamari. The airport serves as both a military and a civil airport. With its redesigned apron, as of 2021 the airport is able to serve up to nine civilian airliners at the same time. Santorini is one of the few Cyclades Islands with a major airport.
An inflight magazine is a free magazine distributed via the seats of an airplane, by an airline company, or in an airport lounge.
Palma de Mallorca Airport — also known as Son Sant Joan Airport – is an international airport located 8 km (5.0 mi) east of Palma, Mallorca, Spain, adjacent to the village of Can Pastilla.
Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport — formerly known as Lyon Satolas Airport — is an international airport of Lyon, the third-largest city in France and an important transport facility for the entire Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It lies in Colombier-Saugnieu, 11 nautical miles southeast of Lyon's city centre. The airport is 30 minutes from the Lyon-Part-Dieu business district by the Rhônexpress tram.